Samoan Food
Sagato Bakery and Cafe Opens in Salt Lake City, Utah
Albert Ainuu
The Samoan population have a weakness for food. The saying many Samoans adhere to is: "Everyone eats til they full, Samoans eat til they are tired." If you look at the size of many Samoans its not hard to agree that Samoans love to eat.
In business the Samoan restaurant is usually just a Polynesian Clothing Store which is actually a one stop shop for everything from CDs of latest music, DVD copies of movies from the islands, to clothing, and then of course cooked food.
A Polynesian store is where you will find all of the favorite weight gain foods such as povi masima, taro, palusami, Mamoe, Turkey Tails, Oka and a pineapple pie or Coconut Bun or two. The menu rarely changes and the sales are never diminished especially the closer it gets to Sunday because the Sunday Koaga'i is not complete without the heaviest foods available. The meats are always very moist and the grease or fatty juices flowing. The menu is basically a heart attack awaiting to happen. Now that is not the kind of information one should be reading about when we are talking about a new restaurant, but there is a new place that just opened in Salt Lake City and is run by a family who have been cooking and selling baked goods and Samoan food since 1994.
Thats 24 years ago.
According to legend they started with a folding table and baked goods which they sold in a park. This supplemented the income for the family for many years. The reputation of their food has grown with each passing year and it has now become featured at many a Samoan event in SLC where Polynesians gather and eat. In Salt Lake City, an Polynesian event is never complete unless the Sagato family have a booth or are selling their baked goods at the event.
Sagato has become a name associated with good eating because the quality of their food is excellent. Their baked goods are comparable with upscale bakeries of Europe. It was inevitable that they would open a bakery and with this opening of the Sagato Bakery and Cafe which happened today, October 1, 2018 (to be officially opened on October 5, 2018) this is just what the doctor ordered if you want to be nice and full. And I mean that in a good way because the food is so good that it will be sold out on a daily basis so I suggest you get there early. Even today, their first soft opening, they ran out of meat pies.
This is quite a treat for the Samoan community because there are just a few pastries or baked goods that are universally appreciated and the meat pie is one of them.
Samoans many of whom congregate in New Zealand, were raised on meat [pies which is a dish that combines flakey crust with a rich meat and gravy filling. You can bet that Samoans who came from New Zealand travelled with Meat pies as their gift for family awaiting their arrival. It is always a favorite and people cannot wait to get their grub on when the meat pie is available, but the problem in the USA is they do not last and after eaten, the sadness comes knowing there will be no other meat pies until some other family member flies in from New Zealand.
Well now Samoans in Utah do not have to wait til the relatives from New Zealand arrive to get a meat pie. Sagato's Bakery and Cafe are recreating this favorite Samoan dish along with a variety of pastries that are unique to New Zealand including the cream donuts and other pastries. The fact that this is now available is rippling across the USA via the internet like a tidal wave with people planning trips to Utah with one stop in mind. A stop to buy a bunch of meat pies and pastries.
Sagato's Bakery and Cafe is run by the Sagato family which consists of the elder Sagatos: Loi and Tualagi and their family of adult children who have all decided to run this eatery. It is unique in that is a real Polynesian eatery devoted to just food and not a combination of Clothing, Music and Cultural things that so happens to sell food. This is a real restaurant and it just serves food. Good Polynesian food or at least those foods that we grew up enjoying. I am already planning a trip to Utah to visit some cousins I havent seen for a while, but secretly my real reason for going is to buy a whole bunch of meat pies and pastries.
To get more information they have a facebook page by the name of Sagato Bakery and Cafe and you can find them also on their website: www.sagatofoods.com. They have catering available also. Their hours of business are 8am to 8pm Monday to Thursday and then 8pm to 9pm on Friday and Saturday. You can find them at 44W 7200 S, in Midvale, UT 84047. Their Phone number is (385) 557-1728 and email is sagatofoods@gmail.com.
Enjoy the good food and if you are so inclined FedEx a box of meat pies to me.
The Samoan population have a weakness for food. The saying many Samoans adhere to is: "Everyone eats til they full, Samoans eat til they are tired." If you look at the size of many Samoans its not hard to agree that Samoans love to eat.
In business the Samoan restaurant is usually just a Polynesian Clothing Store which is actually a one stop shop for everything from CDs of latest music, DVD copies of movies from the islands, to clothing, and then of course cooked food.
A Polynesian store is where you will find all of the favorite weight gain foods such as povi masima, taro, palusami, Mamoe, Turkey Tails, Oka and a pineapple pie or Coconut Bun or two. The menu rarely changes and the sales are never diminished especially the closer it gets to Sunday because the Sunday Koaga'i is not complete without the heaviest foods available. The meats are always very moist and the grease or fatty juices flowing. The menu is basically a heart attack awaiting to happen. Now that is not the kind of information one should be reading about when we are talking about a new restaurant, but there is a new place that just opened in Salt Lake City and is run by a family who have been cooking and selling baked goods and Samoan food since 1994.
Thats 24 years ago.
According to legend they started with a folding table and baked goods which they sold in a park. This supplemented the income for the family for many years. The reputation of their food has grown with each passing year and it has now become featured at many a Samoan event in SLC where Polynesians gather and eat. In Salt Lake City, an Polynesian event is never complete unless the Sagato family have a booth or are selling their baked goods at the event.
Sagato has become a name associated with good eating because the quality of their food is excellent. Their baked goods are comparable with upscale bakeries of Europe. It was inevitable that they would open a bakery and with this opening of the Sagato Bakery and Cafe which happened today, October 1, 2018 (to be officially opened on October 5, 2018) this is just what the doctor ordered if you want to be nice and full. And I mean that in a good way because the food is so good that it will be sold out on a daily basis so I suggest you get there early. Even today, their first soft opening, they ran out of meat pies.
This is quite a treat for the Samoan community because there are just a few pastries or baked goods that are universally appreciated and the meat pie is one of them.
Samoans many of whom congregate in New Zealand, were raised on meat [pies which is a dish that combines flakey crust with a rich meat and gravy filling. You can bet that Samoans who came from New Zealand travelled with Meat pies as their gift for family awaiting their arrival. It is always a favorite and people cannot wait to get their grub on when the meat pie is available, but the problem in the USA is they do not last and after eaten, the sadness comes knowing there will be no other meat pies until some other family member flies in from New Zealand.
Well now Samoans in Utah do not have to wait til the relatives from New Zealand arrive to get a meat pie. Sagato's Bakery and Cafe are recreating this favorite Samoan dish along with a variety of pastries that are unique to New Zealand including the cream donuts and other pastries. The fact that this is now available is rippling across the USA via the internet like a tidal wave with people planning trips to Utah with one stop in mind. A stop to buy a bunch of meat pies and pastries.
Sagato's Bakery and Cafe is run by the Sagato family which consists of the elder Sagatos: Loi and Tualagi and their family of adult children who have all decided to run this eatery. It is unique in that is a real Polynesian eatery devoted to just food and not a combination of Clothing, Music and Cultural things that so happens to sell food. This is a real restaurant and it just serves food. Good Polynesian food or at least those foods that we grew up enjoying. I am already planning a trip to Utah to visit some cousins I havent seen for a while, but secretly my real reason for going is to buy a whole bunch of meat pies and pastries.
To get more information they have a facebook page by the name of Sagato Bakery and Cafe and you can find them also on their website: www.sagatofoods.com. They have catering available also. Their hours of business are 8am to 8pm Monday to Thursday and then 8pm to 9pm on Friday and Saturday. You can find them at 44W 7200 S, in Midvale, UT 84047. Their Phone number is (385) 557-1728 and email is sagatofoods@gmail.com.
Enjoy the good food and if you are so inclined FedEx a box of meat pies to me.
Samoa’s Organic Farm to Table hits the Caribbean
By Faumuina Felolini Tafuna’i, WIBD, Samoa
Samoa’s Organic Farm to Table programme has been highlighted as one of the ways to link chefs from the Pacific, Caribbean and Indian Ocean to agriculture and spread wealth to smallholder farmers. Hosted in Barbados, the 2nd Caribbean Agribusiness Forum was held earlier this month and featured Women in Business Development’s associate director Alberta Vitale, Milani and Paddles chef Dora Rossi and chef and author Robert Oliver. Vitale said in designing Organic Farm to Table, there were three key audiences – the farmers, the chef/restaurant/hotel owners, and the consumer. “We know our farmers well but we also have to know the needs of restaurants and hotel owners. For them consistency and reliability was a concern. For the consumer, it is mainly that they were interested in getting a more authentic Samoan food experience.” Samoa’s Farm to Table is adapted from a system designed by Robert Oliver, who developed it in Barbados where he was the executive chef for several resorts. The programme started at the end of 2013 with seed funding from the United Nations Development Fund. The programme now has 23 restaurants and hotels with over 60 farmers supplying weekly orders. Vitale said food is described as a gateway to culture. “For us, organic food is a gateway to not just our culture but also our environmental health.” Chef Rossi is an Organic Farm to Table customer for both Milani and Paddles Restaurants. She said she was surprised to see how far ahead Samoa’s Farm to Table programme is compared to the Caribbean in regards to trying to counter imports. She said the programme had grown from its small beginnings. 
“As you may expect there were some teething problems as most farmers do not dine in restaurants and even WIBDI staff were not fully aware of restaurant expectations in terms of quality consistency and timely delivery. “As a business owner I sat through these teething problems as we all had the same goal: Making Samoan tourism sustainable whilst spreading wealth to as many families as possible.
“You know the truth is that most tourists just want a great tasty meal. If it comes with the benefit of locally sourced produce, then it’s a bonus but my job as a chef and a business owner is to find creative ways to please their palates support the farmers and make a buck at the same time.” Rossi says chefs have upped their game in Samoa. “Through Robert Oliver’s work, book and TV series we all have accepted the challenge to produce the best tasting dishes in the Pacific.” Oliver, who is a strong advocate of using local products in Pacific cuisine, is a leading member of the Chefs for Development platform. Highlighting the similarities between Caribbean and Pacific islands, Oliver said opportunities were being missed to tap the tourist market. “In all small island countries, without exception, a large industry is tourism and agriculture, so if tourism is connected to agriculture, you have an opportunity for farmers to supply hotels. It’s a missed opportunity in most cases,” he said. “In the Caribbean and Pacific there’s a similar picture because lots of food is imported for tourism. Chefs have a big role to play in the economies of countries, when tourism is the biggest industry and farmers are often unable to access that industry.” Oliver is due to return to Samoa next year to work more intensively with Women in Business Development on its Organic Farm to Table programme. “I love working in Samoa with the many dynamic and passionate people there, so I am so pleased to be able to get the opportunity again to see what I can do to assist and support.” Ena Harvey, the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) representative for Barbados and agritourism specialist, said that there was an urgent need to make stronger connections between agriculture, the agri-processing sector and the tourism industry. “It’s not happening enough. The agritourism linkage is one of the most direct ways to impact poverty. It means that a farming family can stay on the land, a farmer can stay in agriculture, revenues increase and there are employment opportunities for women and young people. There is a multiplier effect.” Isolina Boto is manager of the CTA Brussels Office and project leader for regional trade. She says there is a need to upgrade farmers’ supply chains to larger hotels and resorts and stimulate demand of local products and its use by chefs, who can promote ways to more creatively utilise local produce by the hospitality sector and promote local cuisine. The 2nd Caribbean Agribusiness Forum, was organized by CTA, Caribbean AgriBusiness Association, and IICA, in collaboration with the Barbados Ministry of Agriculture, Food, Fisheries and Water Resource Management and the Barbados Tourism Product Authority. The Caribbean-Pacific Agri-Food Forum is funded by the European Union through the Intra-ACP Agricultural Policy Programme. |
Promoting Food Security in Samoa
Apia, Samoa, September 9, 2014 - This year the third Small Island Developing States conference was held in Samoa - a beautiful tropical island country lying in the heart of the South Pacific. During the conference delegates in the capital Apia populated its busy hotels, restaurants and cafes.
The nation’s food is a major part of Samoan culture, and ties to the land are key to people’s cultural identity. “For Samoa,” Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoihas remarked, “our food expresses our intimate relationship with the land, the sea and our ancestors.” Food security for small island economies The country faces challenges of food security common to many small island economies. Across the Pacific, people’s diets have changed radically over recent years.Corned beef and fatty meat imports have become staple parts of the local diet, alongside cheap white rice and imported cereals. Fast food, flour and fizzy drinks have proliferated across restaurant tables and supermarket shelves. Aside from the significant public health concerns, high dependence on food imports can come at a big cost, particularly given the distance of many island countries from larger markets. In Vanuatu, for instance, the average household spends an estimated 15% of its food budget on imported rice, compared to just 6% on local crops. High dependence on global commodity markets to meet basic needs also leaves people vulnerable when global prices spike.Following the food and fuel price crises of 2008, the cost of a bag of rice tripled. The tiny atoll nation of Kiribati was subsequently forced to turn to food aid and increasingly expensive transport subsidies to meet the needs of hungry residents. Re-valuing food culture in the Pacific But in Samoa, there are signs that things may slowly be changing. More of Apia’s restaurants seem to be taking pride in marketing traditional Samoan cuisine made from local produce. A recent recipe book, produced at the request of the Prime Minister, features a tantalizing array of healthy Samoan dishes with ingredients “from the heart of Polynesia”, while health promotion efforts look to inspire a growing interest in the origins of the food on people’s plates. The government is also starting to focus on rejuvenating its agricultural industry. A recent World Bank-assisted project is one example. The Samoa Agriculture Competitiveness Enhancement Project is working with farmers not only to increase their income, but also to ensure that local produce captures a growing share of the domestic food market. "I have seen a big difference in terms of the quantity of vegetables we are growing now." Sara Ahhoy Farmer Increasing the reach of local produce The major thrust of the project has been its large-scale matching grant program, currently benefitting 190 commercial fruit and vegetable and livestock farmers – 50 from the initial pilot stage – to help them invest in the overall management of their farms. Using these funds, Sara Ahhoy from Aleisa village has been able to construct a new nursery and 13 tunnel houses which help protect crops from heavy rain and minimize pests. "I have seen a big difference in terms of the quantity of vegetables we are growing now,” she explains. “When we grew them outside, pests were a problem but also not so many vegetables would be harvested. Now, this house of tomatoes has lasted three months already, and we're still harvesting. Before they would last just three or four weeks.” Today Sara is running a successful fruit and vegetable business which supplies hotels as well as Apia's main hospital. She grows a wide range of herbs - relatively new for Samoan farmers - as well as tomatoes, capsicums, salad vegetables, spring onions, and cabbages. Other fruit and vegetable farmers have used the project to invest in new tools and technology; water storage and rock removal are major focus areas on many farms, as well as diversification of what is being grown. Aside from grants, multi-year research programs are experimenting with new varieties of vegetables to see what works best in Samoan soils and climate. Meanwhile commercial livestock farmers have been able to access funds to restore depleted pasture, purchase new animals and construct critical fencing or shelters which were badly damaged by Tropical Cyclone Evan in 2012. All participating farmers are set to benefit from comprehensive business trainings and extension services. Maximizing the potential of the land It seems that the market is ripe for high quality local food that is distinctly Samoan. With the right support, and with partners such as the Small Business Enterprise Centre and the Development Bank of Samoa, the project aims to ensure farmers can take advantage of such opportunities: to connect them to buyers, enable them to improve the value of their goods, and increase the market for fresh, healthy and ultimately local produce. This would be good for the economy and ultimately good for Samoa, and could set an important precedent for greater self-sufficiency in Pacific island countries. |
